Wikipedia helpfully lists all of Mad’s movie and TV-show spoofs, but I believe this is the first attempt to catalog parodies of publications. Real, identifiable publications, that is: I’m not counting the fake lifestyle mags for groups like beatniks and hippies and mobsters … Continue reading →

Parody Of: The New York Times. Title: “The New York Times.” Parody By: Spy. Date: July 15, 1992. Length: 4 pages. Contributors: Uncredited. Availability: Occasionally seen on eBay and abebooks; online right here. Amid the current worry over “fake news,” it might be soothing to revisit a political hoax that only wanted to raise a … Continue reading →

Parody Of: The New Times (London). Title: “A Slap at Slop.” Parody By: William Hone. Date: 1821. Pages: 4. Contributors: William Hone (writer), George Cruikshank (art). Availability: PDF of pamphlet version online here. William Hone may have been the original pop-culture fanatic. Born in London in 1780, he was drawn to the … Continue reading →

Parody Of: The Times (London). Title: “The New Times.” Parody By: The Times — and the Tories. Date: Sept. 6, 1794. Pages: 1. Availability: Reprinted much reduced but still legible in The History of the Times, Volume I: The Thunderer in the Making (London: Times Publishing Co., 1935). The earliest known … Continue reading →